What Is The Oldest Living Thing On Earth Today? ~ The world's oldest living human at just under 116 years of age. Guinness World Records has confirmed that on December 17th, 2012, Jiroemon Kimura of Japan is the oldest living human being in the world, after Dina Manfredini of the United States died at the age of 115 years and 257 days. This in itself is not so remarkable (as of January 2nd, 2013, Mr. Kimura is 115 years, 258 days old); what is notable is that the next nine oldest living people on Earth are all women, as life expectancy has historically been longer for women compared to men. Also, on December 28th, 2012, Jiroemon Kimura became the oldest verified human of the male gender in history. But there is more; on Jan. 2, 2013, Mr. Kimura became the 10th oldest human being who ever lived. What is so amazing is that he is the only male on this top-10 list and is also the only person still alive on this list. He is only the second male in history to have made it onto this list. So, what is the oldest animal still living? That would likely be Jonathan the tortoise, estimated to be 181 years of age (he currently lives on the island of Saint Helena). He was caught in a photograph taken during the Boer War at around 1900; at the time, he was about 70 years old (see photo below). However, according to Guinness World Records, the oldest verified tortoise that ever lived was named Tu'i Malila; he lived for 188 years (from 1777 to 1965). He was a gift from Captain James Cook to ...